Dubai’s Police Museum is scheduled to exhibit the Audi A8 used in the, now infamous, Graff jewelry heist in 2007, reported Gulf News on Wednesday.
The robbery, conducted by the so-called Pink Panther gang, is considered one of the most intricate burglaries in Dubai Police’s history.
At first, authorities had difficulties confirming whether or not the car was involved in the crime, as it was abandoned after the initial theft.
In an interview with Gulf News, director of the Dubai Police Criminal and Investigation Department (CID), Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim al-Mansouri mentioned that the robbers fled the country after the event, leaving the car parked beneath a building in a Dubai suburb.
Authorities marked the vehicle as suspicious after the gang extended the rental agreement, paid for using international bank accounts.
Round the clock monitoring of the car was assigned to 32 police units.
Al-Mansouri stated that “a few weeks after the monitoring of the car, one of the gang members who was sent back to Dubai by the gang to collect the stolen jewelry was caught by police as he was trying to open the car.”
Striking diamonds
After an initial search of the car was conducted, where nothing was found, a second more thorough examination revealed jewelry worth an estimated Dh14.7million ($4,002,178.18), stolen from Graff jewelers in a shopping mall.
The stash was hidden inside the left-hand side front door of the vehicle.
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Dubai Police have replaced the opaque paneling with glass screens, to allow the public to view where the stash was held.
The exhibit is unusual as most cars used in crimes are examined as evidence, then set aside and never used again.
“Any car that has been used in similar robberies will not have its registration renewed,” said al-Mansouri. However this car has a particularly inspiring story, “this car has become one of the unique pieces kept on display at the Dubai Police Museum to reflect the efforts of Dubai Police in arresting one of the most dangerous and organized gangs in modern history,” he added.
